Summary：Guests take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for rail and road connection across border between the Republic o...

Symbolic ceremony connects DPRK and ROK as way of fostering better ties

A groundbreaking ceremony to modernize and eventually connect road and rail transportation on the Korean Peninsula was held on Wednesday, building on the momentum of easing inter-Korean relations since early this year.

The ceremony, held at Panmun Station in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's border town of Kaesong, was attended by about 100 participants from both DPRK and Republic of Korea, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

Connection of railways and roads is among a series of measures aimed at improving bilateral ties agreed upon in September by the ROK President Moon Jae-in and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim Yun-hyok, the DPRK railway minister, said in a congratulatory speech that the ceremony was held at a historical moment when the peninsula was into a historical turning point and the desire for peace and prosperity got stronger than ever, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The ROK Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee said Seoul and Pyongyang took a step forward for peace and prosperity on the peninsula as the railway and road connection across the border would have a meaning of physical connection beyond, according to Xinhua.

Following the speeches, the ROK transport minister and the DPRK railway minister had a signing event on the concrete sleeper that could be used for rails in future construction works.

The event, however, is not the actual start of construction, making the move a symbolic one as long sanctions remain in place.

Inter-Korean commercial or economic projects have been frozen due to international sanctions and the ROK's alliance with the United States.

The DPRK and the US have been involved in give-and-take negotiations since the historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in June opened up dialogue on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula between the two countries after months of military threats.

But the pair seems to be at a dead end.

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have made little progress in the past few months, as differences between the two sides remained over the scale of denuclearization, US sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration.

In a situation when no one is willing to take a step back, Korea University professor Lee Jung-nam believes that everyone should count on the ROK side.

"The real question is not how soon will Kim give up his nuclear weapons but whether and how the ROK and the DPRK will continue their peace process after a year that saw some of the most dramatic steps toward Korean reconciliation since the end of the Korean War," Lee added.

The ROK's cargo trains operated five times a week for about one year through the section of the Gyeongui Line from Kaesong to Munsan, but the operation stopped in December 2008 as inter-Korean relations began to sour.

Kim Kum-ok, a ROK-separated family member whose birthplace is Kaesong, said in the train for the Panmun Station that she rejoiced and enjoyed her trip to Kaesong where the 86-year-old spent her early years, according to a pool report from Seoul's unification ministry.

Describing the trip as a dream, Kim said the train trip to her hometown had been a big hope to her.